1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer input device.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer input device, similar to a joystick or mouse, but uses palm pressure rather than the wrist for the input.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Much of the interaction between computers and human operators centers on a flashing marker, or cursor, that appears on a computer's video screen. The cursor indicates where the next action will be displayed and moves in response to commands from the keyboard. For example, typing a character moves the cursor one position to the right; striking one of the specially designated cursor keys can move the marker in one of four directions--up, down, left or right.
The most widely used alternative pointing device is the mouse, held in the hand and pushed along a flat surface. It will move the cursor in any direction on the screen. Mice come in two basic versions, optical and mechanical. Buttons on the housing allow the user to select a command from a displayed menu, for example, or determine the end point of a line drawn on the screen.
Devices often used as controllers for games and graphics include thumbwheels, joysticks and trackballs. Thumbwheels, which move the cursor in either direction along one axis, are used in pairs to propel the cursor in as many as eight directions. Newer digital models maneuver it in any direction, as do analog joysticks and trackballs.
A cursor's position at the end of a move depends on whether or not the controller's range of motion bears an absolute correspondence to the area of the screen. With an absolute joystick, for example, moving the stick to its lower left position moves the cursor to the screen's lower left. With a so-called rate joystick, however, pushing the stick to the left moves the cursor to the left of where it was, but not to a particular spot on the screen. Absolute devices are thus more effective for rapid, gross movement of the cursor, rate devices give finer control. Some devices can be switched from one mode to the other.
Numerous innovations for computer input devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.